Rift Valley Waters: Indigenous-Led Research on Climate Change and Health in Lake Turkana and Lake Bogoria
Duration: 1 October 2024 – 30 June 2025
Country: Kenya
Communities: Turkana, El Molo, Daasanach, and Endorois indigenous communities
What is this programme about?
This programme aims to research and conduct advocacy around the health impacts of climate and environmental change on indigenous communities around Lake Turkana and Lake Bogoria in the East African Rift Valley. The East African Rift Valley is a unique geological feature stretching from Ethiopia to Mozambique, encompassing diverse ecosystems and water resources. The region is home to numerous lakes, wetlands and rivers that support rich biodiversity and human livelihoods. Both climate change and human activity are increasingly threatening the delicate balance of water resources in this ecosystem.
Through community-based participatory research the team will document climate-related health challenges on local communities and facilitate the co-creation and implementation of culturally appropriate, community-led solutions and adaptation strategies. Using the research findings and community-led solutions, the team will develop and advocate for evidence-based policy recommendations at local, national and international levels to support indigenous health resilience in the face of climate change in the East African Rift Valley.
Why are we doing this?
Climate change is having profound impacts on water resources and ecosystems worldwide, with severe consequences for indigenous communities who have deep cultural ties and are heavily dependent on their lands. The East African Rift Valley, which sees water flow between states along its length, is home to unique water bodies such as Lake Turkana and Lake Bogoria. Impacts from both direct human action (dam building and deforestation) and climate change are causing dramatic changes, threatening the health and livelihoods of indigenous peoples in the region.
Indigenous communities around the two lakes, including Turkana, El Molo, Daasanach and Endorois peoples, face mounting challenges from the changes mentioned. Dramatically fluctuating water levels, well beyond any range known in elders’ lifetimes, increased water temperatures, and changes in water quality are disrupting traditional ways of life and modern coping mechanisms alike, creating new health risks. However, these communities also possess valuable traditional knowledge that could inform effective climate and health adaptation strategies. By employing a community-based participatory research approach, this programme will integrate indigenous knowledge with scientific methods to develop culturally appropriate solutions to climate and water shift-related health challenges.
What are we doing?
Our transdisciplinary team, led by local indigenous organizations Friends of Lake Turkana and Endorois Indigenous Women’s Empowerment Network, will work closely with community members to identify key health issues, co-create adaptive strategies, and advocate for supportive policies at local, national, and international levels.
Through a series of workshops, convenings and policy dialogues, we will generate crucial data on climate-health impacts, build local research capacity and facilitate indigenous communities in leading their own climate and health adaptation efforts. The programme’s initial phase will culminate in a presentation of findings at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and at an event alongside the Wellcome Trust’s exhibition on freshwater in June 2025, amplifying the voices of these communities on a global stage and contributing to the broader discussion on climate change, indigenous rights and health equity.
Who are our partners?
Endorois Indigenous Women’s Empowerment Network is an indigenous-led registered in Kenya. As a women-led organization, their mandate is to advocate for the rights of women, persons with disabilities and girls in the Endorois Community. EIWEN was founded in 2016 and registered legally in 2019 by local Endorois women committed to improving their community’s living standards.
Friends of Lake Turkana is an indigenous-led, women-led organization that works with and for communities within the greater Turkana basin to demand collective social, economic, cultural, environmental, and territorial justice. Their work covers Turkana and Upper Marsabit counties in Kenya. They work in partnership with communities across the region to safeguard and defend the rights and resources of pastoralists, indigenous people and local communities.
Who is funding this programme?
The project is supported by a Discovery Grant from the Wellcome Trust.
Featured image: Samuel Kiptek, an Endorois elder showing journalists the Loboi Dispensary that was submerged as a result of climate-change linked rise of Lake Bogoria in Baringo County, Kenya. Credit: Billy Rwothungeyo/MRG.
